


Nothing in the World Could Stop Me

by Erandri



Series: One Hour Prompts [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buck is not handling Eddie being buried alive well at all, Episode: s03e15 Eddie Begins, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Prompt Fic, Soft Eddie Diaz, Soft Evan "Buck" Buckley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: “You cut your line!” Buck yells, rounding on him, and Eddie swears the whole station goes silent. Now, it only takes him a second to put everything together.“I didn’t have a choice, Buck. You guys were pulling me up, I needed more time,” He tries to explain, keeping his voice calm.“‘I didn’t have a choice?’ That’s what you’re going with?” Buck scoffs, crossing his arms.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: One Hour Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830946
Comments: 13
Kudos: 414





	Nothing in the World Could Stop Me

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [@deluweil](https://deluweil.tumblr.com/) who gave me the prompt for this story!
> 
> Prompt: Buddie prompt "I didn't have a choice? That's what you're going with?" (No lawsuit though can't read any more of those)

Buck is acting strange. It takes Eddie a couple of days to notice, once the shock and hypothermia have worn off and he’s allowed to come back to work, but Buck is definitely acting odd.

When he had found his way back to the rescue team after swimming out of that well, cold and disoriented and half-drowned, Buck had latched onto him and wouldn’t leave his side. Eddie had relished the attention from him. He had been terrified that he was going to die down there-drowning in the dark fifty feet underground-he was convinced of it. The only thing that kept him fighting when his fingers went numb from cold; when his vision got spotty from lack of oxygen, was the thought of Chris waiting for him at home and Buck doing everything he could to save him above ground.

On the ambulance ride back, with Chris safe at home sleeping in his bed and unable to provide Eddie the comfort he needed, Buck had been there. He had held his hand the entire way to the hospital, tucked the blankets back around him when they slipped down, asked if he was okay every five seconds. He had soaked up the attention, Bucks obvious worry for him making him feel loved, and if Eddie had pretended that his worry meant something more to Buck than it actually did well, that’s for Eddie to know.

But now- now it’s like a total reversal. It’s like his very first day all over again when Buck had been so closed off to him, and it’s giving Eddie flashbacks to his last months living with Shannon before she left. He knows it shouldn’t, Buck is not his wife, but he can’t help the familiar feeling of knowing he’s done something wrong, just not knowing exactly what it was.

He lasts two weeks before he breaks. Two weeks of Buck sitting as far away from him as possible during station dinners. Two weeks of Buck pulling out of hugs too fast, of stilted and forced conversations when it’s just the two of them. Two weeks of Buck begging off every time Eddie tries to make plans with him. To weeks of Buck feeling like a stranger before Eddie has had enough.

“So are you ever going to tell me what’s bothering you?” Eddie asks aloud when Buck passes him in the truck bay without even looking at him. It feels like a role reversal of when Buck had confronted him here on Halloween all those months ago.

Buck’s shift is over so he’s back in his regular clothes, his bag slung over his shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Buck says, adjusting his bag, and Eddie knows he’s lying. Buck won’t meet his eye so Eddie squares up, getting ready to get into whatever fight they need to to clear the air between them.

“Sure you do. It’s the reason why you’ve been acting so weird around me for the last two weeks. Look, man, if I said something I’m sorry, but you gotta tell me what’s bugging you.”

“You seriously don’t know?” Buck says, almost to himself, looking away and shaking his head.

“I seriously don’t.”

“Look, just forget it alright. I’ll be back to myself in no time,” Buck tells him and turns around like he’s going to try and leave again.

“I don’t want you to just get back to yourself, I want you to tell me what’s wrong!”

“You cut your line!” Buck yells, rounding on him, and Eddie swears the whole station goes silent. Now, it only takes him a second to put everything together.

“I didn’t have a choice, Buck. You guys were pulling me up, I needed more time,” He tries to explain, keeping his voice calm.

“‘I didn’t have a choice?’ That’s what you’re going with?” Buck scoffs, crossing his arms.

“You would have done the same thing in my shoes and you know it,” Eddie says. He’s getting defensive now. Buck has never questioned one of his calls before, he’s always supported him even when it probably wasn’t the smart decision. Even when it got them both chewed out by Bobby when the call was finished, Buck has always stood by his side.

“That’s not the point,” Buck says, which means he knows Eddie’s right but he’s too stubborn to admit it.

“Then what is the point? Explain it to me Buck because I’m failing to see what all this is about. Everything turned out fine, I made it out, I’m here. Safe.”

Buck opens his mouth to say something, his finger is already raised to drive home his point, so Eddie squares his shoulders ready to take whatever Buck’s going to throw at him next. Buck stares him down for a second and lowers his hand. Eddie watches him blink and shake his head, his shoulders sagging like the fight’s gone out of him. And then Buck walks away and Eddie is standing in the middle of the truck bay, more confused than ever.

“You should go easy on him,” Chim says and Eddie startles. He turns around to see Chim leaning against the ambulance, hands tucked in his pockets.

“If he would just explain what’s-”

“Eddie,” Chim interrupts, and there’s something in his voice that makes him pause. He sounds... hollow. Then he sighs and he’s back to normal, “Look, I’m sure what you went through down in that well was awful. I don’t know how you could get over it so quickly, but for us on top? We thought you were dead man, and Buck? Bobby had to pull him away from the cave in. He was trying to dig to you with his bare hands, screaming your name. I-” Chimney shudders and Eddie swallows. No one had ever told him this, “I never want to hear anyone sound like that ever again, least of all Buck.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I know you didn’t. Maybe we should have told you, I think we all just wanted to forget that part of the night.” Chim shrugs and walks off, heading upstairs and leaving him standing there. Buck had clawed at the ground to get to him. Bobby had had to pull him away. Eddie wonders if that reaction means what he thinks it does, he wonders if maybe at that moment Buck came to the same realizations that Eddie had. Eddie wants to find out

\---

Eddie knocks softly on Bucks door, waiting for the sounds of Buck coming to answer it. He could just walk in, he has a key, he’s done it a dozen times before, but there’s something about this that feels like he needs to be let in. Like he needs to wait for Buck’s permission. Eddie knocks on the door again, a little louder this time. Buck could be asleep, he got off shift hours before Eddie did, but just as he’s about to try again he hears the lock turning in the door.

“Eddie?” Buck asks as soon as he’s got the door open.

“Can I come in?”

Buck pauses and Eddie’s heart stutters, wondering if he’ll say no. Then, Buck takes a step back, opening the door in a silent invitation.

“So, I talked with Chim after you left,” Eddie says, not knowing where else to start this conversation, “He told me what happened after the cave in.”

“I asked them not to say anything,” Buck mutters, taking a seat at one of the stools at the kitchen island.

“I’m glad he did,” Eddie says and they fall into silence. Buck is staring at him, waiting for him to make the next move, and Eddie has to look away. He needs a second to pull his courage together to do what he’s about to do. “Buck, can I do something?”

He looks up again, meeting Buck’s eye and trying to look as open as possible. Bucks brow furrows but he nods his head yes. He takes a breath, his heart suddenly feeling like it’s going to beat its way out of his chest. He takes a step closer to Buck, who sits up straighter but makes no signs of moving away. So Eddie takes another step, and another, until he’s standing in between Bucks parted knees.

“Eddie-” Buck starts to say but Eddie doesn’t let him get any further before he’s kissing him. There’s no hesitation in Buck’s response.

Buck moans and wraps an arm around his waist pulling him closer until they’re pressed together chest to chest. Eddie’s hands come up, his fingers clutching at the fabric of Buck’s shirt as he kisses him back. It’s a desperate kiss, Buck’s other hand coming up to wind in his hair, tugging just on the wrong side of painful to keep him where he is. Slowly, Eddie pulls away and Bucks grip tightens, trying to keep him where he is. They’re both out of breath, cheeks flushed, and Eddie is so damn happy he feels like he could burst, but there’s something haunted still in Buck’s eyes.

“Hey,” Eddie says, leaning forward so that their foreheads touch, “I’m not going anywhere. I promise. No matter what happens I’m going to come back. You and Chris? I’d move worlds if it meant coming home to you.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Buck says quietly. Eddie leans back, using a finger to tilt Bucks head up so that he can look him in the eye.

“I’ll keep this one. Nothing in the world could stop me.”

He doesn’t look away until Buck blinks, a tear sliding down his cheek, and then the damn breaks. Buck pulls him back into a hug, burying his face into Eddie’s kneck and letting himself cry. Eddie holds him, running fingers through his hair to soothe him and pressing soft kisses to the top of his head until Buck’s calmed down enough to pull away again.

“Sorry,” Buck says, wiping away the tear stains on his cheeks. Eddie uses his thumb to wipe away a tear that Buck missed, “Don’t ever apologize for that. Your heart? That’s what I love most about you.”

There’s more Eddie could say, that he loves Buck. Full stop. That there’s no one else for him but Buck. That he wants to spend the rest of his life with him. But it’s not the right time. So instead he kisses him once more time, asks “Come home for dinner?” and smiles when Buck says yes.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](http://erandri.tumblr.com/) and [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/Erandri)


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